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Community Boost Denver – the Next Stop to Train 1 Million People and Small Businesses

By Parisa Zagat, Policy Programs Manager, Facebook

Today we’re in Denver, Colorado, on our Facebook Community Boost tour — just one stop on our way to train 1 million people and small business owners in the US by 2020.

From June 18-19, we’ll be sharing trainings with small businesses and the community on everything from How to Find New Customers with Facebook to how to Stand Out with Instagram andConnect with Local Shoppers.

Denver Small Businesses and the Demand for Digital Skills

Colorado is an incredible hub for entrepreneurship and small business activity. According to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses account for more than 97.6% of all Colorado businesses, representing 1 million employees across the state.

And when we spoke to small business owners in Denver, we learned that having digital skills is an important part of business growth, hiring decisions and competitiveness in the job market for both job seekers and managers.

Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) of small business workers said that creating a social media presence is important to growing their business, but less than one in 5 (17%) said that their skills in this area were excellent. More than 8 in 10 told us that when looking to hire employees for their businesses, digital skills were important. When asked about where a candidate went to school, less than half (46%)of small business workers stated that was an important factor. We also know that FB isn’t the only part of what it takes to grow a business — far from it. When nearly 2 in 3 (63%) small businesses in Denver said they wanted to learn about key growth measurements and metrics for their companies, we added courses on that as well.

With such a vibrant small business community, we know that Denver’s demand for these trainings will continue long after this week. That’s why we will continue to work with local community organizations, so they’re equipped to ensure Coloradans have access to these trainings in the future.

Come join us while we’re here in Denver – we’d love to see you! Register for free or stay up to date with the latest city announcements, news and program schedules atfacebook.com/communityboost.